Electric fan



April 7, 1925. I

, a c. o. HALL ELECTRIC FAN 2 Sheets-Sheet l I Filed Jan.

April 7, 1925.

C. O. HALL ELECTRIC FAN v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR- 6/7ar/es 0. f/fl/l.

BY fZ EYS Filed Jan. 15, 1924- Patented Apr. 7, 1925.

mamas oz-znenns o. HALL, .01 EAST seamen,

LEQTRW N,-

T all whom zzf nozy c n ce17r tv Be it known tl'iatclncn annnsn Icitizen of the United States res ding jiat East-Orange, inflthe eonnt fE's K d stnte of New Jeise. have my ted pertain.

new and usefnl. lrn'pnov nients. in Enema; F ans, of which. the. gfollowing a spe qifica f iv .1 e c H I I is. This I invention, relatesv toelectric ,fans, and1110176 plljtlcllltl lly to motolgfc n s trn Q: tionin, iespect to ceil.ing sans" and jothersf, hayin preieya'hly slowlyrotating blades An liije ct of the inyention is toproducea tan capableof vbeing driyen at -rel'gi iyely' slow speed, and which fan a conip' se,a small ;size,lightv ,ig hfi higlnspeed mote; in

V ;usht slownspeedandlarge, size electric "fan ino tors .inay be discontina, lied from use,

Another obj 9 of the,- in en tion is to vp1' oduce, an eleetnic,fan ofsi nple an'd rugg ed, const cation whichis ,ineg gensive to man a;factine,- and which 'may in pa i t, be inz nii factn ied by utilizingstangla d .;ele ctric}n1o s; n -.1 st at aim teh e leie s usual th; irive, shat? in; l Qli Qfim plane and driving th oi gh; difiei'entinl re:duction transmission to slowly reyolve a fan, i

The accompanying drawings illust ate preferred forms. of itheginvention, se f' ng to.

illustrate the strnctare principle and mode of operation thereof, V

Figure 1 illustratesa partial verticalsec; tionof the electrician seying to-show the enclosed driving illQCllQIllSQl; and Figure 1; shows amodifiedfoi'ni of the cnivingnie chani m s e ployed. b tween the;lsmelli high speed moto i'and the sl v-speed fan bledes Figurefi illnst'atese modified form. 0 11 theinvention .and shows iinp fovements in'1espect .to the fan motel: hou sing and ;d 1" mechanism.

Figure 1- shows another modifiediorgn of: ie invention.

Reterring now more particula jly to Fig;- ui'es ,1 and) for adetaileddescription of the inyention, thereiis shoiirn an. electric, nioto Gl'iai ing a suspension or mounting bracket or flange 7 fixed to asnspension pipe 8.V The tained withiiic t he said iiis 'gilating housing1.7 with a' switch button'15 connecting thereg with and adapted tostopandstartfthe'nio.-

1 metrically opposite suspe nsio n,inemher Sis broken away, but .it

is nndeistood how. it' maybe fixed to a ceil-i n at a su table distance.

eit isui r i from the ce hn ThGiHLOfQLQG is provided as usuel witha 9ihieh s littedwitlfi a drive neInlier 10 The lowei Part of the inotocarries a flan 11in which anchoredgijiiipple or. tub 1s and a sw tchhotn'g 13fis hell" with n "the nipple .12 by I a jclosn e plug :1 the i'snilflsiij tch oi:.'1'heost at' pa tsheing cei 16 pass throngh theswitchhousing 13 for a r the pu poseof transmitting.current tot-he inototerm nals 17 through circuit wires l8. A- SG'Illl SPllGllCZll housing"2Q may be fixedv t-o thel fiange 7 and reachesdownwardly over the driiz'e roller 7 10 to enclose the 'jdifiving trans ni ston parts. A lowersemi-spherical reduced fl'ronith'ato fithe motor itself. 'An

' idle balancing rolle r '23 may be jonrnaled on the upper housing paift20 and runs freely in engagement with the driving Ting 22, the saididler 23 being preferably disposed dia the 5 di ii ing roller 0 11 wheel10. Thisidle -ollei' 23 serves to hold theti ansinissionparts inalignment and prevents st 'ain to produce an efiicient driving a'ctionwithout wear oivibizition of the p l t ,7 c v e v v The lowelsemi-spherical driver housing 21 is provide; with ahnh25 which carries aball bea 'ing 26 inteyposed between the 1'o tfltingnhnhfi and the fixedor stationary ,nipijle12 and thnswhenthe lower housing driiierfil is inopei etion, the ball bearing 26 pr o yides an efficient sinooth andnoiseless jeul'ne l upon which the parts iotate. The ball bearing 26niaj'ha'Ye its outer i'ace fixed in the hnb 25 with the inner racethereoi slidahle np and down on the nipple 12 which 7 permits. while inoper tion, the lower housinn part together with its ball hearing 26 toundergo slightly adjusted vertical movement up and down in relation tothe fixed motor part 12. A slot 27 may be cut in the stationary nipple12 and affords a track or guideway in which an ear 28 on the ballbearing 26 may slide thus restraining the inner race of the ball bearingfrom rotation yet at the same time permitting it to undergo verticalmovement. A take-up spring or cushion 29 is confined on the nipple 12against the ball bearing 26 with a nut 30 fixed on the lower end of thenipple; and this spring acts to lift upwardly on the housing 21 wherebythe driving ring 22 is held in constant and uniformly frictionalengagement with the driving member 10. The nut is turned up or down toincrease or decrease the frictional driving contact between the drivingand driven members.

Fan blades 82 are fixed to the hub 25, and it is observed how therevolutions per minute of the said fan 32 are substantially reduced incomparison to the revolutions per minute of the electric motor shaft 9and driving part 10. The blades 32 may be mounted at any convenientplace on the driven housing 21.

Figure 2 shows a drive pinion 3a engaging a ring gear 35, the said gear35 being fixed to the lower drive housing part 21, and the operation ofwhich produces a smooth and relatively low-speed positive drive for thefan. Either the frictional drive member 10 or positive gear 84 may beused to quickly bring the speed of the fan up to normal depending uponthe wishes of the manufacturer as to which form of trans mission is mostdesirable.

Ventilating air inlets 31 are made in the stationary part of the housingand air wings 33 are punched out from the rotating housing for thepurpose of producing a flow of air down through the housing over themotor.

The advantage in a fan construction of this character resides in thefact that a highspeed electric motor 6 of standard construction may beemployed for the purpose of manufacturing slow-speed ceiling fans havinga large air sweep thus avoiding the very considerable weight usuallyexisting in ceiling fans of present-day use. The housing parts 20 and 21enclose the operating mechanism and protect the same from dust, while atthe same time the housing adds to the appearance of the fan. The designof the housing 20-21 is such that a relatively small mass is rotated,for it is observed that the lower housing element 21 rotates while theupper part 20 thereof remains stationary. This construction andarrangement of parts provides an easy stopping and starting movement.

Referring now to Figure 3 for a descrip tion of a modified form of theinvention there is illustrated a standard electric motor 38 equippedwith the usual form of drive shaft 89 and a drive roller 40 fixedthereon. A unitary housing, made in the form of an upper section '11 andlower section 42, is preferably fastened together with screws 4L3 inorder that the parts may be readily assembled and disassembled, and adriving ring 44 is carried by one of the housing parts and rests incushioned and frictional engagement with the roller 40. The lower partof the housing is made with a hub to and fan blades 46 are fixedthereto; and the electric switch may be installed on the motor at thisconvenient point and be made accessible through the hub.

The upper part of the housing is made with a bearing housing 4.8 inwhich a ball bearing 49 is fixed and adapted to move up and down. inrelation to the motor support bracket 50. A spring cushion 51 isconfined between an adjusting nut 52 and the ball bearing 49 therebyinsuring the engagement of the roller 40 and drive flange 44-. Theaction of the spring 51 serves to hold the friction drive parts insuitable driving engagement against the upward lift or thrust producedby the movement of the fan blades 1-6 through the air. 7

Referring now to Figure 4 for a descrip tion of a slightly differentform of construction, there is illustrated an electric motor 55 with adrive roller 56 engaging the upper revolving housing part 57, whichhousing is rotatably supported on a ball bearing 58 in the same manneras hereinbefore described. Fan blades 59 are fixed to the periphery ofthe driving housing 57 thereby locating the said fans at a pointsubstantially midway of the housing. This improvement in the manner ofmounting the fan blades 59 enables the manufacturer to use relativelyshort fan blades. A lower housing part 60 is fixed with screws 61 to themotor frame, and the usual form of switch button 62 is accessible forstarting and stopping the motor. In this form of the invention the lowerhousing part is stationary while the upper part rotates and the weightof the upper part urges the driving members 56 and 57 together.

The improved two part housing is so constructed that the rotating partfits up closely to the stationery part thereby providing a closedhousing. The invention is presented to fulfill certain needs felt inrespect to less expensive and light weight ceiling fans.

What I claim is: I

1. An electric fan construction compris ing in combination, a motor, adrive member attached thereto, a housing arranged around the motorengaging the driving member and rotated thereby, a fan carried by thehousing, and a cushion member arranged-to urge the housing and drivemembertogetherz 2. An electric fancomprlslng m combination a motor, ahousing enclosing the motor,

a motor support extending through the housing by which the fan issuspended .in operative position, a driving transmission by which themotor. rotates the housing, fan blades carried by the rotating housing,and an idle balancing pulley journaled on a fixed part and runningagainst the housing to balance the transmission and prevent ibration. V

3. An electric fan comprising in combination, a motor, a housingenclosing the motor, a motor support extending through the housing bywhich the fan is suspended 1n operative position, a driving transmlssionby which the motor rotates the housing, fan blades carried by therotating housing, a part of the housing being mounted stationary on themotor, and an idle roller carried by the stationary housing part androlling upon the rotating housing part.

4. An electric fan comprising in combination a motor, a housingenclosing the motor, a motor support extending through the housing bywhich the fan is suspended in operative position, a driving transmissionby which the motor rotates the housing, fan blades carried by therotating housing, a part of the housing being mounted stationary on themotor, an idle roller carried by the stationary housing part and rollingupon the rotating housing part, ventilating inlets made in the fixedhousing, and exhausting outlets in the rotating housing where air isdrawn through the housing around the motor.

5. A fan construction comprising in combination, an electric motorhaving a drive shaft, a driving member fixed to the shaft, asemi-spherical housing arranged in a covering relation with the motor, abearing carried by the motor and supporting said housing, a driven ringcarried by the housing and engaging the aforesaid driving member, fanblades carried by the housing, and an idler member mounted in fixedrelation to the motor and rolling on the driven ring.

t3. inn electric fan construction comprising in combination, a motorhaving a drive shaft, a driving member fixed on the shaft, asemi-spherical housing fixed stationary on the motor and fitting downover the shaft and driving member, a rotatable housing fitting aroundthe stationary housing, a bearing carried by the motor on which therotatable housing is journaled, a driven ring *arried by the rotatablehousing and engaging the aforesaid driving member, fan blades fixed tothe rotatable housing, an idler roller mounted on the stationary housingpart and rolling against the driven ring, ventilating tilating exhaustinoutlet blades inthe rota table housing to craw airpver the motor throughthe housing,

7. A fanconstruction comprising incombination, an electric motor havinga drive sha ft a drivingmember/ fixed to the shaft, a seinisphericalhousing arranged, in a covering relation with the motor, a bearingcarried by the motor and supporting said housing, a driven ring carriedby the housing and engaging the aforesaid driving member, fan bladescarried by the housing, a hub made on the lower part of the housing bywhich the fan blades are fixed to the housing and in which the aforesaidbearing is carried.

8. A fan construction comprising in combination, an electric motorhaving a drive shaft, a driving member fixed to the shaft, asemi-spherical housing arranged in a covering relation with the motor, abearing carried by the motor and supporting said housing, a driven ringcarried by the housing and engaging the aforesaid driving member, fanblades carried by the housing,

a hub made on the lower part of the housing by which the fan blades arefixed to the housing and in which the aforesaid bearing is carried, andelectric switch parts pro-- tected by the said hub.

9. An electric fan construction comprising in combination, a motor, adriving member carried on the motor, a pair of semi-spherical housingparts secured together and enclosing the motor and driving parts, abearing carried by the motor and rotatably supporting the housing, adriven ring carried by the housing and engaging the driving member, ahub formed on the housing, a switch carried by the motor and projectingthrough the hub.

10. An electric fan construction comprising in combination, a motor, afan blade carrier journaled thereon, fan blades fixed to the carrier, adriven ring made on the fan carrier, a horizontal drive shaft carried.

by the motor, a driving member carried by the shaft engaging the ring, aswitch to stop and start the motor, and a cushion device arranged tourge the driving member and driven ring together in frictional drivingengagement.

11. An electric fan construction comprising in combination, a motor, afan blade carrier journaled thereon, fan blades fixed to the carrier, adriven ring made on the fan carrier, a horizontal drive shaft carried bythe motor, a driving member carried by the shaft engaging the ring, aswitch to stop and start the motor, a cushion device arranged to urgethe driving member and driven ring together in frictional drivingengagement, a housing partly enclosing the motor and driving mechanism,and an idle roller journaled on the housing and rolling against theblade carrier-ring to provide a positive balanced drive.

in combination, an electric motor carrying an armature shaft disposedhorizontally, a driving Wheel fixed on one end of the horizontal shaft,a housing enclosing the motor,

12. An improved electric fan comprising CHARLES o. HALL.

